Vampire Heart
by IrvingZissman
Summary: COMPLETED Raven is attacked by a vampire and forced to inherit the dark gift of damnation. Now she tries to adjust to an undead life, while hiding her secret from the team. BBRae RobStar
1. Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly

Ok, so I'm really nervous about this. It takes place in my normal fan fiction universe, so it's set after 'Double Date with Destiny', which is set after 'It's Only Rock and Roll', which is set after 'The Smell of Victory', which is set after 'The Mall of Shopping.' This story is a drastic departure from what I normally write, but it's been heavily sitting in the back of my mind for the longest time now. PLEASE BE GENTLE with your comments, as I bruise easily. So without further ado...

* * *

"Closing time, Raven" 

Raven looked up from the ancient book she had been reading and glanced at the clock on the wall. 10 PM.

"Time flies..." she muttered to herself.

The cafe had long since been empty, with everyone filing out at around 9:30 or so. Only Raven stayed behind, engrossed in her latest book she had purchased at an antique store. The dusty leather cover was worn and faded, as it had seen many years of existence and oddly enough featured no text or any kind of markings on the front. Still, it was an interesting read and the empath found herself engrossed in it's musty yellow pages.

The owner of the shop, a young 20 something with a neatly trimmed goatee named Tim, smiled as he swept up on the blue tiled floor. "See ya again tomorrow night?" he asked. Raven put her book back into her book bag. "More than likely." she said, and with that was out the door.

For only being only 10 PM, Jump City was eerily quiet and serene. The moon shone down from the sky, illuminating the steel and concrete towers in an other worldly glow. A sharp cold breeze drifted through the night air, nipping at Raven's delicate skin. She had flown to the cafe straight after a battle with Cinderblock, so she never bothered to change out of her uniform and now she was regretting it, as she felt like thousands of tiny needles were simultaneously pricking the marble toned skin of her legs.

Her book bag slung over her shoulders, and with her hood now pulled up, the sorceresses was up in the air flying towards Titan Tower with merely a thought. No doubt Beast Boy was probably in bed, eagerly awaiting her arrival and needless to say, she wanted nothing more at that point to be in his arms. Flying over the city, Raven could get a birds eye view of what Jump City had to offer. It looked much different at night, so peaceful and tranquil.

The serenity was suddenly broken up as Raven could hear the cries of help of a young woman, her voice cutting through the night air like a razor. A quick scan of the area and Raven could see a dimly lit back alley, the young woman slowly being stalked by a tall man in a black suit, with the girl's back against a concrete wall and no where to run.

"Mugger." Raven thought to herself and flew down in the alley, a safe distance behind the apparent criminal. She could see the terrified young woman in the dim luminescence of the street light...but the mugger seemed to be nothing more than a dark silhouette.

"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" the Azarathian said as she commanded her own dark powers with her extended hand. Black tendrils rose up from the ground and wrapped themselves in thick coils around the assailant. Raven kept her focus on the mugger, her eyes gleaming a solid white. "Leave. Now!" she ordered the woman, who uttered a quick thank you and ran away down the street and away from the scene at hand.

The man never struggled or attempted to free himself, instead he merely stood there with his tall frame completely encased in Raven's powers. "And what, pray tell, do you plan to do with me?" he asked her, his voice calm and smooth as the finest imported silk.

"You're going to jail. Plain and simple." she replied, her voice cold and toneless.

The man merely chuckled to himself, and with that Raven's power ceased over him...the tendrils dissolving into thin air as soon as they had appeared. Raven's eyes returned to their normal amethyst hue, though not of her own will.

Not backing down, Raven immediately raised her hand and illuminated a nearby trash can with her energy and with a flick of the wrist, hurled the waste receptacle at the mysterious stranger. By this point he had turned to face Raven, his eyes a lifeless black and his skin tinged with a slight shade of gray. His eyes seemed to burn holes in Raven, as if she could feel them peering into her very soul.

The trash can hurtled itself at the stranger, but merely lifting his own hand, the trash can came to a complete stop and dropped effortlessly at his feet. "Sweet child, your attempts are pointless." he said, his voice sending shivers down Raven's spine. She attempted to hurl several more trashcans at him, but found she couldn't move. At all.

She struggled to so much as twitch a muscle, but found it was to no avail. She couldn't wiggle a toe, a finger, or even blink. She was completely powerless and defenseless.

The stranger slowly approached the paralyzed girl and it was then Raven finally managed to get a good look at him. He was tall and slender, with long skinny arms and legs. He seemed to be clad in a dark black suit, with a blood red shirt and matching black tie. His shoes were polished to perfection, yet offered no reflection in the light. His hair was just as black, slicked back into a solid piece of perfection. When he spoke, his voice was calm and seductive.

He leaned closer to Raven, smiling slightly to himself as he walked around her slowly, admiring every inch and curve of her delicate frame.

Raven felt like she was going to be sick.

The stranger than stopped for a second and leaning closer, curiously sniffed Raven. Taking a slight pause, he sniffed again, this time a slow smile spreading on his face.

"My, my, my...what do we have here? A half-demon, half angel? I've heard rumors of such a creature but believed them to merely be legend." He sniffed the air again. "Ah and not only do you have such a wondrous blood line, but you're a virgin too. Such a beautiful delicate flower, completely uncorrupted by the perverse whims of the male species."

"I'm not a creature. My name is Raven." she replied, her voice masking the ball of fear that was spreading throughout her body.

"Raven is it? Ah, well, what a lovely name. I suppose I should introduce myself since we are being cordial. My name is Dominic. Pleasure to meet you." he said, bowing before her.

"What do you want with me, Dominic?"

Dominic leaned down to confront her, his face a mere inches from her. "I only wish to give you a gift. A gift of eternal life." and with that, he smiled at her, showcasing two dagger sharp fangs.

"You...you're a vampire." she said quietly, her voice now starting to quake.

He never replied, instead he merely lowered her hood down to get a better look at her, smiling at seeing how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. "My what a gorgeous young lady you have become, dear Raven." Dominic made his way behind her, softly stroking her silken lavender hair. "Such a beautiful creature indeed."

His body was dangerously close to hers, as his hands made their way to her waist, rubbing every possible inch of her mid-section. Slowly and carefully, he made his way up to her breasts, caressing them and fondling them, his eyes closed as he basked in the touch of her soft skin. Raven felt repelled and aroused at the same time and hated herself for it, as single tear trailed down her skin.

Sensing her fear, Dominic gave her a gentle kiss on the back of her head, his hands finally leaving her breasts. "Dear Raven, please do not be afraid. I would love nothing more then to introduce you to a world of passion that you have only dreamed about, but those days have long since passed. So let your mind be at ease, your innocence shall remain intact."

"And now, dear sweet Raven, I do believe it is time."

"Please...don't do this." she begged, her face slick with tears. Dominic brushed a strand of her hair from her face before softly kissing her on the lips. "Fear not, my child." was all he said.

Dominic pulled her hair back behind her head and kissed her neck, before slowly licking it with his tongue. He teasingly nibbled and sucked on the tender flesh of her neck before sinking his teeth into the softness with surgical precision.

Raven gasped loudly, her eyes rolling back in her head. Her body felt like she had been struck by lightning, every nerve ending at full attention electrified with vivid senses. She could feel her life force being sucked out of her as Dominic greedily lapped at the crimson elixir that was now gushing from the pale girl's body. She whimpered slightly feeling her knees get weak, her muscles becoming weaker till the point where Dominic had to hold her by the waist so she wouldn't fall.

Finishing his deed, Dominic carelessly let go of Raven as she fell into a heap on the ground, her vision blurry as she slowly began to fade away. Wiping his mouth, Dominic took a sharp piece of jagged glass from the ground and with a swift cut, slashed his wrist offering the bleeding appendage to a dying Raven.

"Drink."

"...no..."

"Drink or you will die." and with saying this, he crouched down with the blood flowing out his wrist, close to her lips. Raven turned her head, choosing to die than life an eternal life of damnation. Not amused, Dominic grabbed her by the back of her head and thrust the wrist into her mouth. Feeling her very life slowly but steadily depart, Raven drank.

Dominic paused for a moment and watched with a smirk on his face as Raven drank blood for the first time.

"You've had enough." he said firmly and removed his wrist, the wound quickly healing back as if it had never happened. "Welcome, my child, to damnation." he cooed. Raven responded by groaning loudly, her body starting to be wracked with pain.

"You shall experience some discomfort, sweet Raven, as your body slowly begins to die." he said coldly as he stood back up. "We shall meet again, but for now, I'll let you return from whence you came."

Dominic helped Raven back to her feet, the empath in a daze of pain and horror at what had just transpired. Dominic gave her body one last loving stroke and with a kiss on the lips disappeared into the black night.

Raven gasped loudly in anguish, as she leaned up against a brick wall. She was blinded by agony and attempted to fly, but could not keep her concentration long enough to get more than a few inches off the ground. Reaching into her backpack, she produced her communicator and pushing the 'PAGE ALL' button send out a broadcast back to the Tower.

"R-Ra-Raven here...I...I need help..." she managed to croak. She dropped her communicator as the pain became too much, filling every single cell of her dying body with it's mind-numbing torture before she collapsed in a heap in the dark back alley.


	2. Endless Dark

Wow, I'm glad you guys liked this. Put some of my fears to rest. Okay...well, time for chapter 2.

* * *

"Oh thank God, you're awake..."

Raven groggily opened her eyes, her vision coming back into focus. She found herself back in her bedroom, laying in the middle of her bed. A quick inspection showed her that her cloak had been removed and she was just in her leotard. Beast Boy was crouched at the side of their bed, his face worried with dark purple circles under his eyes from a lack of sleep.

Raven groaned a bit as she stirred under her silk sheets, trying to gather her senses again. Memories of Dominic were still all too real and vivid in her head.

"...how..how long was I out for...?" she asked quietly.

"I found you in the alleyway last night and brought you home. Robin and Starfire were asleep so they didn't hear the page and Cyborg is in Steel City with Titans East. You slept all that night and all day long. What happened?" Raven paused for a long moment before sitting up slowly, propping her back against the headboard of her bed. She let his words roll around in her head as she decided on what she should tell him. She couldn't tell him the truth. He would freak knowing his girlfriend was an undead, damned to walk the earth for all eternity. No. He couldn't know. Nobody could.

"I was mugged." she flatly said. Beast Boy looked confused, scratching his head slightly. "Uhh..mugged? Couldn't you just make things all floaty and kick his butt?"

"It wasn't that simple, Gar...he...he shut down my powers somehow. He nullified them. I was defenseless..." she said as her voice trailed off. Beast Boy leaned forward and gave her a reassuring hug, slightly surprised that instead of her normal warm body, she felt cold and distant. Even her hair which had always carried the slight fragrance of rain now seemed null and devoid of life.

The empathic girl stood there for a second with his arms around her, before she slowly enclosed him in her own arms. The two lovers sat there in the blackest night holding on to each other as if they were the only two people in the world. Finally, Beast Boy pulled himself away and planted a soft kiss on Raven's chakra.

"You want some tea?" he asked. Raven forced a small smile on her face. "I'd love nothing more." she said, causing the eager young changeling to run frantically to the kitchen. Raven sat in the bare loneliness of her room trying to fight back the tears that wanted to pour out of her eyes.

Of course she had absolutely no desire for tea in the slightest...her body craved one thing at this moment and it wasn't tea. "No...don't give into the temptation." she thought to herself. "Fight it, Raven. Fight it. Don't give in."

Slowly she made her way out of bed and hesitantly extended her hand and breathed a sigh of relief as her cloak floated towards her, encased in a silhouette of dark energy. "At least I have my powers..." she quietly thought out loud.

Raven made her way out in the kitchen, a glance at the clock on the microwave showing it to be 11:35 PM. Not surprisingly, she didn't feel the slightest bit tired...in fact, she felt very active and alert.

Beast Boy, who look exhausted, was happily buzzing around in the kitchen preparing a hot pot of tea for his beloved. Raven quietly sat down at the table, her hood pulled up to partially hide her face from him. It wasn't long till the pot whistled loudly signifying that the herbal brew was complete.

"Here you go, Rae." he said smiling, sitting the steaming cup and saucer in front of her. Raven looked up at him and smiled as best she could and took a sip of her tea, which she would normally enjoy but the herbal drink seemed flat and bland as if she were drinking warm tap water.

"So...did I do a good job?" he asked, eager for her approval.

"You did great, Gar. It tastes wonderful."

"Awesome! I'm glad you like it! And don't worry Rae, tomorrow we'll find this dude who hurt you and kick his sorry butt! Titans style!" he added, his eyes glowing with a fiery vengeance. "Nobody hurts my girlfriend and expects to get away with it!"

Raven smiled at his enthusiasm and rewarded her green warrior with a soft kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure he'll regret it..." she said gently. Beast Boy grinned, having enjoyed the kiss very much. The two lovers sat there in the kitchen by themselves reminiscing about past battles, funny moments, tender times shared and various other things..whatever subjects their young minds could grasp. For a moment there, Raven felt at peace with her fate finding that Beast Boy's corny jokes and ridiculous sense of humor helped put her troubled mind at ease.

Eventually the clock clicked to 1:48 AM and Beast Boy yawned loudly, stretching his wiry arms towards the ceiling. "I dunno about you Rae, but I think it's bed time. Whadda say?"

She didn't say anything, instead she just took him by the hand and led him to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them. She glanced at their bed, her amethyst eyes focusing on the Transformers sheets Beast Boy had begged her to get for two weeks, with the empath finally obliging if only to shut him up. She wanted to give up, she wanted to fly away and live a life of exile and not expose her friends to what she had become.

Raven felt Beast Boy wrap his arms around her waist, pulling down her hood before kissing the back of her head. "It's ok..." he said "That jerk won't get away. Tomorrow morning I'll tell Robin and, knowing him, he won't sleep or eat till this dude is behind bars." The Azarathian just nodded her head quietly, feeling the tears begin to build up again. Beast Boy let go of her and crawled into bed, the smile on his face letting her know he wanted company.

Being an expert on repressing her emotions, Raven hung up her cloak and crawled into bed next to him, her head resting shortly underneath his.

It wasn't long till Beast Boy was out cold, snoring the soft snore that Raven would normally listen to, the steady rhythm helping her fall asleep. Only she couldn't sleep...not now at least. She shifted a bit trying to close her eyes and drown out the pain that was creeping it's way back up her body and she knew why.

The hunger.

It filled every sense of her body till soon she couldn't think of anything but feeding. With every tick of the clock, the pain increased by an octave, shattering her from the inside out.

"Don't...do it..." she said to herself through clenched teeth. "Don't...do it..." but the hunger was not to be denied. She had to fight it. The urge inside was growing...growing...growing like a monster stalking it's prey.

Raven sat up in bed, still in her leotard, her body shaking slightly. She glanced over at her sleeping beau and how peaceful and at ease he seemed to be and by instinct, she found her eyes wandering to his neck.

"For the love of Azar no!" her mind screamed and she stormed out of her room, hoping that removing the temptation of Beast Boy would help ease the hunger.

It failed.

She sat on the couch in Ops, her knees pulled close to her chest as she sobbed softly to herself. The hunger tore at her soul, gnashing, destroying down any sense of humanity she may have still clung to.

And then slowly, she made her way to the kitchen and opened the freezer. Tears flowing freely down her eyes as she frantically searched for the item in question. She shuffled through boxes of frozen tofu bacon pizzas and glorg-cicles till she found it. A frozen t-bone steak that Cyborg had planned on cooking for dinner.

Raven unwrapped the steak from it's white wrapper and ran her fingers over the hard, frozen meat. Her crying having slowed down a bit, but her breath still ragged and stressed, she slid the now exposed steak in the microwave and with a trembling finger pushed 'THAW.'

What followed was the longest 10 minutes of her entire life. She sat there staring at the microwave, unblinking as she watched it melt away the ice. The microwave finally let out a soft ding that it was done and the empathic girl opened the microwave door and gingerly held the soft meat in her hand. Raven quietly set the steak on the counter top and retrieved a tea cup from the cupboard.

Wiping a tear from her eye, she squeezed as much blood out of the raw steak as she possibly could, hating herself for what she was doing, but desperate for some sort of peace. After a minute or so, the cup was just under halfway full and Raven had her meal. She paused briefly before crying bitterly again to herself and lifting the cup to her lips, drank the blood.

She felt the viscous fluid run down her throat and almost instantly the pain in her body slowly subsided, the raging fire of agony dwindling down to something more tolerable and manageable. She gasped loudly as she hurriedly washed the cup to remove any and all traces of blood. The steak was carefully wrapped in it's white butcher paper and re-inserted back into the freezer.

She slowly walked her way back to bed, her tears drying on her face, her cheeks hot with sorrow. She laid down and curled her body as close to Beast Boy as she possibly could. It was then she made a decision...tomorrow she would tell him. Him and only him. And then at night when he slept, she would leave the Tower and never look back.

"I can't afford to be around him or them or anyone else. I'm...I'm no longer myself. I'm a _monster_." she thought, weeping bitterly into the night.


	3. This Fortress of Tears

The more and more I think about it, the more and more I'm not sure if I want to put this story in my "fan fiction universe." I think I'll just let this be a stand alone, with no real connection to any of my stories. I dunno, what do you guys think? Should I make this story an alternate universe or keep it in continuity with my other stories? (NOTE: _And yes, I did blatantly rip off a certain part of this story for another more famous author, but dammit, I HAD to use it! PLEASE DON'T SUE, OK?_)

* * *

"Rae...Rae...wake up..." Beast Boy said as he gently nudged his sleeping beauty. 

Raven stirred from her sleep and opened her weary amethyst hued eyed to see her green beau's face smiling down at her.

"It's almost 10 AM, Rae. That's like, way late for you."

Raven sighed to herself, despite the blankets and sheets over her and despite sleeping so close to Beast Boy, her body still felt cold no matter how hard she tried to warm it. She sat up slowly, her face expressionless and empty, but smiled slightly at seeing how happy Beast Boy was to see her. "I...I don't feel so good today, Gar. I'm just going to sleep in."

Beast Boy frowned at this news, not wanting to see her sick and alone. The Titans were scheduled to cut the ceremonial ribbon for the grand opening of a brand new Jump City Police Station and he wanted her to be there.

"What's wrong...are you fevered? Sick stomach? ..._woman problems_?"

Even Raven had to smirk at the unsure tone of his voice when saying 'woman problems' as if he were speaking of some horrible disease. "It's none of those things, Gar.." she said quietly "I just don't feel well and I'd like to sleep in." Beast Boy sighed as his shoulders sagged, realizing he'd have to go to the ceremony alone. "Well...ok. But it's gonna suck without you." and finished this off with a kiss to her chakra, a habit he was starting to enjoy.

Raven managed to eek a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared once he had left the room to go downtown with the other Titans. She fell straight back onto her bed staring at the ceiling for the longest time, never moving, never blinking...just staring.

"What do I do?" she finally thought. "I can't stay here..."

The empath stood up and wiped another tear that was now traveling down her left cheek. Her body shivered slightly as she could feel the hunger start to make it's presence known. Right now it was just a dull ache that spread throughout her, but she knew it would only get worse and worse till she found sustenance.

"What happened to me?" she thought "I used to be so strong...and now look at me..."

"Having troubles, dear Raven?"

His voice sliced Raven's psyche, sending waves of fear and guilt through her body. The empath sat straight up to see a smiling Dominic sitting on the foot of her bed.

"Dominic!" she hissed. Dominic just smiled an eerie grin back at her. "Raven, how are you this wonderful day?"

"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" was how she replied, her hand encased in a black orb as a bookcase full of ancient texts flew across the room smashing right into Dominic with a loud crash. Splinters and books spread across the room in random directions, knocking Dominic back several feet. Raven soared straight into the air and cast her powers upon a large wooden chair, hurling at the vampire with all of her strength. It smacked him square in the chest, plowing him right into her wall creating a bit of a small crater. Dominic bounced off the wall and fell to the ground, laying there on the floor neither moving nor stirring in any way.

Her eyes returned to normal and almost immediately she fell to her knees, her powers draining her drastically in this state causing the hunger to escalate it's constant barrage on her senses.

Dominic chuckled loudly, as he stood up dusting off his finely groomed black suit. "Now was that any way to treat your guest?" he taunted.

"...go to hell..." she croaked.

With a blinding speed that even Kid Flash would be envious of, Dominic shot across the room and in one swift movement pinned the tortured girl to her bed, grinning like a demonic Cheshire cat. He used his body to weigh her down, his hands pinning her wrists to the bed, her head struggling on her pillow.

"And to think I even brought you a gift!" he mockingly scoffed. Raven tried her best to summon something, anything to hurl at her assailant but found that he had again nullified her powers.

"Get it over with..." she said, her voice withdrawn and defeated, preparing for the worst. Dominic leaned down and licked her chakra, the same place Beast Boy had kissed, before kissing her on the lips, forcing his tongue into her mouth, swishing it around as it probed the delicate opening. When he had his fill, he lifted his head back up, feeling a bit of satisfaction from the hurt in her eyes.

"I would be lying if I were to say that in my younger days, I would not hesitate to completely ravage you here in this very bed we lay, but I must admit I took greater pleasure from tasting the heavenly blood in your veins than I could ever from such a deviant act." and planting one more kiss on her chakra, crawled off of her, sitting on the foot of her bed.

Raven slowly sat up, clutching her knees to her chest again, tears flowing down her face for the umpteenth time since the bite.

"What do you want from me?" she finally begged, her voice heavy with sorrow. "Why do you keep torturing me like this?" Dominic shook his head slightly, before standing up to pace around the room.

"Are you so blind that you cannot yet see what has happened to you? You have been blessed, child! The dark gift is yours! Think about it...you can live forever! The entire world is your playground. Never again must you worry about sickness or health or death, you are favored among the favored!"

"...you never answered my question..." Raven said as sternly as she could muster, her body wracked with the crippling pain of the hunger.

"Quite the sharp one, aren't we?" he mused. "My actions my seem cruel to the narrow minded, but in reality there is a method to my supposed madness. I am merely trying to break you of these infantile whims of the living you still foolishly cling to."

"...but...but...why me?..." her words were becoming harder and harder to form, the pain leaps and bounds above what it was the day before.

Dominic leaned forward and stroked the side of her face delicately with his hand. "Because, my dear sweet Raven, you are my fledgling. I created you and it is now your destiny to follow me, to stand by my side as we travel the world absorbing the sights and sounds it has to offer." The Azarathian mustered all the strength she could could to slap his hand away, defiant to the very end.

"So full of spite. A shame, as it looks like my _'lessons'_ will have to resort to more drastic measures...but not yet. No, I'm afraid it'll be time for me to leave soon, but fear not my Dark Rose...for I shall return soon enough."

Raven didn't respond, as she had collapsed on to her bed in a fetal position and in the back of her mind, she began to pray for death. Anything to end this suffering. Dominic stroked her lavender hair, which had started to fade slightly, smiling to himself.

"But before I go, I wish to leave you with a parting present. A snack, if you will." and from his pocket produced a small white mouse. Sitting the mouse down on the bed next to the shivering Raven, he blew her a kiss before disappearing into the shadows of her room. As the girl lay there antagonized by her own thirst for blood, the mouse approached her and sniffed her as if he was inspecting her somehow.

The sheet where Raven was laying was soaked with her bitter tears. The mouse letting out a playful squeak as if he was attempting to cheer the sorceresses up. The hunger meanwhile decayed at her spirit and then at that moment she knew what she had to do.

"...I'm sorry..." she whispered to the squeaking mouse and with a shaky, unstable hand, picked him up. The mouse looked at her with a curious glance, unsure of where, why, or what was going on.

She took a deep breath and fought back the tears, trying to focus on the task at hand.

With a slight hesitation, she took the white mouse closer to her mouth and, closing her eyes, sunk her fangs into it's flesh.

The mouse let out a loud squeal as it frantically attempted to free itself from her clutches, but her slowly bubbling vampiric instincts had taken over as she sank the teeth in further, drawing out the red wine from it's tiny body. Her eyes rolled back into her head slightly as she could feel her pain subside again, but not to the point where it was entirely gone, but to a level of comfort. No, she would need more blood for complete comfort.

"**Raven?**"

It was Beast Boy's voice as he stood in front of her door staring at her.

"**What are you doing?**"


	4. Join Me in Death

I wub you guys! No seriously, I love you guys! By the way, when Raven mentions Punk Rocket, she's referring to the story of one of my other fan fics, "It's Only Rock and Roll"

* * *

Raven's gaze slowly turned around to meet Beast Boy's, a look of shock and horror in his green eyes. The white mouse at this point had given up the ghost, as she had quickly drained it of it's life blood in a short manner of time.

"What are you doing?" he again demanded.

Very slowly the empath removed the lifeless rodent from her fangs and laid him gently down on her bed, her focus away from Beast Boy and now staring down at her bare feet.

Then the tears started again.

She had cried before since it had happened, but at this point any last hope of retaining her humanity had slipped away, just like the poor mouse's life. Her tears were heavy and bitter, causing Beast Boy's attitude to change. Not wishing to be interrupted, Beast Boy shut their bedroom door and punched in the ID key to lock it.

"Rae, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice soothing. He sat next to her, her head buried in her hands as the tears flowed freely like a dam that had burst open. "Shhh...you can tell me." he added, as he slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. Raven took a deep sigh to control herself and rested her head on his shoulder, still crying softly.

"Beast Boy..." she finally said, her voice hardly above a whisper "...something happened to me when...when I was mugged.." The changeling's eyes narrowed into thin slits and his mind instantly wheeled to the worst case scenario. "Raven...were you raped?" he asked, his voice toneless. She merely shook her head no, with the jade skinned prankster easing out a sigh of relief.

"Then what happened?"

"I...I wasn't mugged...I was attacked...by a vampire."

There was a silence in their bedroom as Beast Boy just stared at the floor, massaging the back of her neck with the only sounds in the bedroom being Raven's gentle sobs.

"Vampires are real?" he finally asked.

In another time Raven would have send him flying with her powers at such a dumb question, but giving her current mood she just didn't have the strength. Instead, she merely nodded, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Yes, they are real. Very real. And one of them, named Dominic, attacked me..."

Beast Boy swallowed his spit, his body getting tense. He knew what he had to ask, if he could only manage to spit it out.

"Did he...?"

Raven nodded silently, confirming her boyfriend's worst fears. "Oh God..." he said softy, not intending to hurt Raven, but his words still feeling like a sharp dagger straight into her heart. "I'm sorry, Rae..." he said, not quite sure what he was apologizing for but feeling the need to say it anyway.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." she said flatly, her eyes finally starting to dry, but the sorrow that caused the tears still ever present.

"So...is that why you had the mouse in your mouth?"

Raven winced as if she had been just punched in the solar plexus, the painful reminder of the desperate lengths she sank to still fresh in her mind. "Yes..." she finally said, not making eye contact with him. "Dominic made it in the Tower...and...and he saw how hungry I was. He humiliated me, Gar."

"Can't you just, like...not drink blood?"

Raven sighed. Beast Boy couldn't help it and she was trying to have patience with him, but his normal behavior wasn't what she needed at this point.

"It's not that easy, Gar. I'm..." she could feel the tears wanting to break through again, so she stopped, closed her eyes and breathed in deeply so as to avoid another breakdown. "...I'm dead." she finally said, her voice back to the normal monotone it always used to carry.

"No way, that can't be. You're like, talking to me and stuff."

Raven held out her wrist to Beast Boy. "See if you can find a pulse." she offered. Beast Boy took her slender wrist into his hand, slightly disturbed at how cold it felt and pressed her finger around trying to find a pulse...a heartbeat...anything.

There was nothing.

He gently let go of her hand, his stomach upset by this. He felt like he was going to puke.

"So...if you don't eat, what happens? I mean, it's not like you can die again."

"Remember when we had to stop Punk Rocket from stealing the xenothium?" she asked. Beast Boy nodded quietly, still in shock that his girlfriend was an undead vampire. "Remember the pain you felt when he knocked you into that electrical field?" she asked again, attempting to drive her point home. The changeling shuddered slightly remembering the horrible sensation of massive amounts of pure electricity cascading through every cell in his body. "How can I forget..." he said quietly.

"That is what I feel like every waking second if I don't feed...and that rat was barely enough to subside the hunger. Even now as we speak, I can feel it creeping up on me. It's letting his presence known...it's a pain I will carry with me forever."

Beast Boy just shook his head. "No! I refuse to believe it! There has to be a way to cure you!" he protested.

"Cure me? Gar, this isn't a cold or a flu or something I can take a Tylenol for! It's...it's..." She never had the chance to finish that sentence as she immediately groaned loudly, falling to her knees. She clutched her stomach in pain, as her body began to shake as if she were having convulsions.

"Raven!"

But she couldn't reply, she fell to her side and rose her legs to her chest, her body a ball on the floor, her face once again slick with tears. "It's that hunger thing, isn't it?" he asked sincerely. Raven merely gave a tiny nod and groaned loudly, the hunger demanding a full meal this time and not just a small cup or an insignificant rodent.

Beast Boy quickly morphed himself into a large gorilla and gently picked up her delicate body and softly laid her down on their bed, pulling the blankets up to her chin, which is how she liked them. "Don't give up, Rae!" he said after morphing back to his human self. "Just hang in there, I'll be right back..." and with that, sped out of their bedroom.

The OPs room was rather busy this day. Starfire, upon learning about Raven's apparent illness, had decided to make her friend a fresh batch of "Wellness Jelly" the contents of which were kept a strict secret. Cyborg was again busy playing his GameStation 720 against Robin.

Breaking up this monotony of the day came Beast Boy charging into the kitchen and hurriedly preparing a pot of fresh herbal tea. His frantic nature caught the attention of Starfire who had just added the moldy bread crumbs to her "Wellness Jelly."

"Beast Boy, I see you have returned. Tell me, is friend Raven any better? Has she recovered from the flu?"

Beast Boy didn't acknowledge her inquiry, just hurriedly sat the pot on the stove and began impatiently tapping his foot waiting for the brew to be near completion. Starfire peaked over the changeling's shoulder, thinking perhaps she did not hear him. "Is friend Raven perhaps feeling better?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...Star...sure thing..." he said without thinking, not giving her the slightest bit of attention.

"Forgive me friend, but I merely asked..."

"I don't have time for this!" Beast Boy interrupted. "Raven is really sick and she needs something to drink, ok? So just leave me alone." Starfire merely blinked in response, feeling hurt at her friend lashing out like this. "I am sorry to disturb you." she said quietly. Beast Boy sighed, suddenly feeling like the biggest jerk in the world.

"Star, I'm sorry. Raven is just really...sick right now and she needs me. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Starfire nodded softly, happy to see her friend not mad at her anymore. "Please inform friend Raven that when she is well, I would wish to take her to the Mall of Shopping for the making of overs." Beast Boy smirked slightly at the idea of Raven getting a complete make over, before shaking the thought from his head. Now was not the time for this and then suddenly,almost as if it had been an answered prayer, the tea pot whistled loudly informing Beast Boy that the herbal brew was done.

In a flash Beast Boy grabbed a pot holder and Raven's favorite tea cup before taking off for the bedroom.

The situation was even worse than when he had left. Raven had thrown her blankets off and was thrashing around on the sheets, the pain absolutely unbearable.

"I'm coming Rae!" he said, locking the door behind him. He sat the steaming pot on her nightstand and taking the cup in his hand, poured a hot cup of tea for her. Then, almost like an afterthought he sat the cup down on the table and went to her dresser, rummaging through the top drawer till he found what he was looking for...a pair of scissors.

Making his way back to the tea cup, Beast Boy took a deep breath and using the blade of the scissors, cut a small incision on his index finger, squeezing as much as blood into the cup as he possibly could. Using a spoon, he mixed the blood and tea together and inched the cup closer to her for her todrink from.

"Here Rae...this will make you make you feel better..." he tried to say as comforting as possible. She sat up as much as she could, grunting from the hunger. Beast Boy tipped the cup to her lips slowly poured the beverage down her throat. She coughed slightly, and fell back on the sheets, her entire face wet with tears. "...more..." she whimpered.

Beast Boy examined the pot and his finger with it's tiny, tiny drop of blood. There was only way he could give her the satisfaction she needed...

"Raven...I want you to bite me like Dominic bit you..." he said grimly. Raven just shook her head no, not wanting to subject him to the same fate that had befallen her. "Look Rae...you're in hell right now. There's no way we can find enough blood to quench your thirst unless you do this! There has to be a cure, I refuse to believe there isn't and besides..." he said as he took her slender hand into his "...even if there isn't a cure, we'll still be together...forever." and accentuated his point by kissing his softly on her chakra.

She simply looked at him, her eyes still watering heavy with tears and whispered a barely audible "...I love you..." before motioning for him to come closer. Her teeth grit as she tried to mentally block out the pain for just one moment. She lovingly caressed his neck, feeling incredibly guilty for what she was about to do, even if he volunteered himself for it.

She made it quick, for both of their sakes, as she sank her fangs directly into his green skin. The teeth piercing the flesh like razor sharp steak knifes, his blood beginning to flow from the open wound. Raven thirstily lapped up the crimson wine that came steadily from his neck, feeing the pain die down and quiet to the point where she could feel nothing at all.

Beast Boy's eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed on the floor, barely clinging to life. Raven wiped the excess blood away from her mouth, some of it having dribbled down on her leotard. She had to act fast or else she'd lose him and there was no way she was going to allow that to happen.

She reached for the pair of scissors on the nightstand that Beast Boy had used to prick himself and in one fast move, slit the vital veins on her wrist. "Gar...if you can hear me, drink this..." she said softly, holding the gushing wound to his mouth. Beast Boy weakly lifted his hand and drank the viscous offering, with Raven offering much more than she should have, in order tomake sure it was a while before he went hungry.

When she felt like she was going to pass out, she retracted her arm as the wound began to instantly seal itself up as it nothing happened. Beast Boy hazily made his way to his feet, slightly unsteady as if he had just walked off a thrilling roller coaster.

"Why...does...it hurt?" he croaked. Raven quietly stroked his hair and kissed him softly on the lips. "It's because your body is dying, Gar." she said as sweetly as someone can say such a sentence.

"It's only 1 PM now...let's sleep and then tonight we'll try to find a cure, ok?" she added. Beast Boy nodded in a daze and kicked off his uniform till he was clad in just his boxers. Raven followed, suit unsnapping her leotard and snaking it off her body, till she was just in her underwear as well.

The two vampire Titans curled their bodies next to each other in a loving embrace as they both fell asleep together.


	5. Salt in Our Wounds

If you guys haven't seen the pictures yet of the deluxe 5" Teen Titans action figures, you need to ASAP!

* * *

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

"Friend Raven, are you perhaps feeling better?"

It was Starfire's voice from outside her and Beast Boy's bedroom. Raven's eyes opened as she rolled over from Beast Boy to look at her clock. 8:15 PM. A quick glance towards her window showed thin beams of moonlight struggling to get through her heavy black curtains.

Raven yawned softly, her fangs letting off a slight glint in the moonlight that had managed to work it's way through the curtains. She sat up in bed and could hear Starfire and Robin talking in hushed voices in the main hallway.

"Star hun, I think they want to be left alone..."

"But I merely wish to inquire if they would like to do the hanging out with us!"

"I know, but still..."

Raven sighed and fetched a spare cloak from her closet with her powers. Granted, she was still clad in just her underwear, but with the cloak pulled shut they would be none the wiser. Sighing deeply, she punched in the code to unlock her door and slid it open a crack, peaking her head through with her hood up.

"What?"

Starfire seemed to be caught off guard by the abruptness and monotone right off the bat. The Tammaranian quickly recovered and smiled big, her emerald eyes shimmering with an innocent enthusiasm.

"How glorious it is to see you again!" she chirped happily. "Robin, Cyborg and I are going to go see the movie tonight. Perhaps you and friend Beast Boy would care to join us? That is, of course, if you are feeling better."

"I'm still a bit under the weather, Starfire. So is Gar. We're both just going to stay home tonight." the empath said flatly. In the back of the room, she could hear Beast Boy stirring from his sleep, moaning Raven's name softly as the pains of the hunger began to plague him. Hearing Beast Boy moan out Raven's name like that caused Robin to get a slight smirk on his face.

"I think they'd rather be alone, Star." he said, surprised Beast Boy even managed to get to first base with the Azarathian. Starfire nodded solemnly and reached to encompass Raven in a get-well hug, but was cut off by a shield of dark energy. "No thanks, Star...I don't want to get you sick too." she said and closed the door.

"Oh, I hope she is well." Starfire worried out loud. Robin merely chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Trust me Star, right now, she's doing very well."

Raven crouched down before Beast Boy at his side of the bed, stroking his messy green hair. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. "...dudeee..." he groaned "...I feel like I got hit by a truck..." Raven nodded knowingly. "That's the hunger. We need to get you fed...here, sit up." she said as she grabbed his hand to prop him up on the headboard. His green skin looked pale, his eyes glassy and vacant as if his mind were somewhere else. She unsnapped her cloak, letting it fall to the floor at her feet, pooling around her ankles.

"Gar...listen carefully. I want you to feed on me..." she said quietly. He just stared at her blankly, not grasping at the moment what she had said, his mind preoccupied with adjusting to the hunger.

"Listen to me, Gar...drink from me..." she said a bit louder and slower, hoping it would register with the dazed changeling. Instead he just winced and groaned again, his own body feeling like it had been jammed into a giant vise with the metal clamps squeezing in on him. Sensing his disorientation, Raven gently guided his eyes towards her neck and merely said "Drink." with the jade skinned prankster nodding slowly as if he understood.

He crawled closer to her, and wasted no time in immediately sinking his teeth into her neck, drinking up Raven's own vampiric life blood. Raven closed her eyes and exhaled softly, finding the sensation to be pleasurable. She felt her knees get weak, but not in a bad way. Her body trembled slightly, almost shivering, as she tossed her head back and moaned loudly. She clutched on to Beast Boy, wrapping her arms around him as best she could, her groans picking up volume and intensity as the sensation became stronger.

It was a declaration of pleasure. Intense pleasure. It was a feeling Raven had never experienced before in her life. It sent shivers up and down her spine, her body quaked as she felt like she was going to explode from the inside, a giant supernova of ecstasy that was shattering the normally calm empath's state of mind. Her breath became short and ragged, gasping loudly as Beast Boy hungrily lapped up her blood. Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer and wailed his name to the heavens

"Garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" she said loudly, before squealing as a testament to her satisfaction.

It was loud to the point where pigeons that were resting outside her window became startled and flew away in a hurry. The changeling smiled broadly as he laid her back down on her bed. She had broken into a sweat, her forehead glistening in the moonlight, with her cheeks red with color and her stomach and chest rising and falling rapidly as she lay exhausted, but satisfied, on her sheets.

"So..." Beast Boy said after wiping a dribble of blood from his mouth, "...was it good for you too?"

"...don't get your hopes up..." Raven said quiet and breathlessly, her face a slight smirk. Beast Boy had drank enough to satisfy him and left her enough to function. She would be slow and a bit weak, but she could still get up and move around. Right now though, he just wanted to be with her.

Falling down on the bed, he grabbed her slender hand in his own and laying next to her, stared up at the ceiling. Neither Titan saying anything, just basking in the presence of the other. Raven still breathing hard, Beast Boy blushing at her reaction of her being fed on.

"So...what now?" he finally asked. Raven had managed to compose herself as she spoke "I'm...not sure." Again there was silence, the two young vampires just holding hands in complete darkness. Beast Boy was first to speak again.

"Raven, there has to be a cure..."

Raven sighed bitterly, the emotional and orgasmic high she was on before was quickly swallowed up by the depression and sorrow that she had grown used to since Dominic's attack.

"Gar..I appreciate your optimism, but it's pointless. We're cursed to walk the earth as vampires." and again, the tears were making their presence known, but she was getting better at fighting them back down, so besides her eyes appearing slightly moist, she held strong. "There's no hope..."

Beast Boy let go of her hand and stood up. "No! I still don't buy it. There has to be SOMETHING we can do...what about your books? Don't one of them mention anything?" he said, his voice raising slightly. Raven furrowed her brow, mustering the strength to sit up, as she was still weak from Beast Boy's feeding. "Gar..." she said softly, her voice trailing off a bit. The changeling sagged his shoulders, his ears drooping slightly.

"So what do we do now?" he asked again. "The only thing we can do. We leave." she replied matter-of-factly. "We're of no use to the team in our current state, as I doubt most of the villains we fight are nocturnal." The news hit Beast Boy like a smack in the face, as he was too stunned to speak. She was right and he knew it, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"When the rest of the team comes back from the movies, we'll sit them down and explain to them what happened and what we have to do." she added, her monotone voice betraying the hopelessness she felt within."Where exactly to we plan on going once we leave?" she thought.

Beast Boy sat back down on the bed dejected and depressed, falling back on the sheets. The two were silent again, till Beast Boy rolled over to speak to her. "At least I have you..." he said softly. Raven smiled back at him, as they shared a bittersweet kiss together.

"I have an idea how to pass the time..." Beast Boy said innocently enough. Raven merely raised an eyebrow, slightly suspicious by the tone of his voice. "And what's that?" she asked skeptically. "Well...I...uh...that is..." he stammered.

"Just spit it out already!"

The changeling took a deep breath and blushing slightly, put forth his inquiry..."I was thinking, since this is our last night in the Tower, we could...uhhh...make it special?"

"And what exactly constitutes 'making it special'?" she asked. Beast Boy's green cheeks blushed a deeper red than the were before. "Umm...like, if you don't mind...we could go to the roof and...make out?"

Raven rolled her eyes in response, though Beast Boy wasn't about to give up so easily. "Aw c'mon Rae! It'll be romantic and stuff. Just us and the moon..." Raven had to admit, the idea did seem appealing the more she thought about it.

"Fine." she said flatly. "You and I on the roof of the Tower."

Beast Boy nearly jumped through his skin he was so excited.

Standing up, he took Raven by the hand helping her off the bed, the empath having regained most of her strength.

"Shouldn't we change out wardrobe?" she asked, noticing both of them were still clad in their underwear. Beast Boy just grinned broadly. "Nah, adds to the atmosphere." he said. Raven again rolled her eyes, albeit playfully this time. "You would think that." she said with a smirk. "Fine, I'll play along."

The roof of the Tower was always a popular spot for Raven, as she found it to be the perfect location to relax and mediate when she needed a moments peace. She had attempted to mediate since Dominic's attack on her, but found it did her little, if any good. The constant blood lust that hung in the back of her soul made concentration nearly impossible.

Beast Boy looked around Jump City Bay, smiling broadly as the moon illuminated the roof in a pale blue glow, almost as if it were a second sunlight. "So...where were we?" he said, trying to sound as suave and manly as possible.

"Gar...I can't go through with this."

A severely disappointed frown spread on his green face. "Awww why not?" he asked dejectedly.

"Well...for starters, I'm not about to do anything on cold, hard concrete." she said slyly. Beast Boy slapped his forehead out of stupidity. "Duh! Ok Rae, stay right there...I'm gonna go get some blankets and pillows from our room! Don't go anywhere!" and was off in a blur. Raven smiled to herself, hoping that this might help ease her mind at where exactly they were supposed to go once they leave the Tower.

She looked out over the water and sighed to herself at how calm and serene the water seemed. So peaceful as the waves gently washed into the shore of the island, a stark contrast to the volatile, uneasy feeling that washed inside of her.

"Romantic, isn't it?"

It was Dominic.

Raven wheeled around to see the vampire leaning against one of the exhaust vents, a sickeningly suave smile spread across his badly pale face. "And might I say, lovely choice of undergarments. Black is truly your color."

"What do you want?" she replied tensely. "Not done humiliating me yet?"

"Dearest Raven, perish the thought! No my dear, instead I have come to offer you a cure, since you seem so willingly to reject your dark gift."

"You're bluffing."

"Am I? You might think so, but I do have a heart Raven. It stopped beating centuries ago, but I do have a heart. Yes, darling, there is a cure and I can tell you where to find it...but it comes with a price."

Raven's patience was wearing thin, her nerves frayed at the tension that hung in the air. "What do you want?" she said, her voice dark and heavy.

Dominic smiled to himself as he stroked the side of her cheek with the back of his hand ever so softly. "I want you." he said quietly. "One night with you and I shall reveal to you the cure."

"I thought you said those days were behind you?" she asked quietly, hoping Beast Boy would return soon. Their psychic link had been severed once Dominic bit her, and even with Beast Boy as a vampire now, the connection had disappeared.

"Doesn't mean I do not remember how." he cooed, with lecherous intent. The empath replied by spitting directly into his face.

"Go to hell." she said, her voice dripping with ice. Dominic's face stayed calm as he wiped the spit away using a handkerchief he kept in his breast pocket. "Very well. What I can't have, I shall take!" and with that pinned her to the unforgiving concrete, Raven attempted to struggle by quickly found herself paralyzed again.

"I could not tell you the last time I enjoyed such a young beauty as yourself. And to think I shall be your first!" he sneered, his eyes glimmering with perverse delight. "If you wish to beg for mercy, I suggest you do it as loud as possible as I find it helps to put me in the mood, so to speak."

"Duck." was all Raven replied with, through grit teeth.

"Duck?"

With a mighty roar came a large green furry claw that was swung with the intent to kill, it connecting dead on with the side of Dominic's head. The perverted vampire was sent reeling back several feet, crashing into one of the several metal exhaust vents. Beast Boy had morphed into the beast he had become with his fight with Adonis, his claws razor sharp and his fangs glowing in the moonlight.

Dominic lunged at the green beast with blinding speed, but the changeling's animal instincts were in full gear and timed it just right for another vicious claw slash to take a large chunk out of Dominic's throat. The now stunned vampire took several steps back, gargling as the blood gushed from the open wound. In short time, however, the wound healed itself with the only reminder of it's existence being the large stain on the front of his black suit.

"Insolent fool!" he bellowed. "You shall pay for this transgression!" and again lunged for the roaring Titan, but was interrupted in his attack by a Birdarang that caught him square in his temple, knocking him off balance as tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Don't think that's happening anytime soon." came Robin's voice, who was joined with a determined Cyborg and Starfire at the top of the staircase that led to the roof. "I don't know who you are or why you're here, but you made a big mistake." the Boy Wonder added.

Dominic stood up and hissed loudly, the very tone of which shook Starfire to her core. The spooked Tammaranian threw a barrage of starbolts at the assailant, with Dominic managing to dodge most of them till one finally caught him in the arm, burning off the sleeves of his suit and singing his flesh.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on Rae again!" Cyborg shouted as a war cry, charging at the vampire as he slowly made his way to his feet. With a loud cry, the metal warrior swung his fist towards Dominic's face but in an instant Dominic was back on his feet and caught Cyborg's clenched hand effortlessly, matching his strength easily.

"I'm afraid you will have to do better than that." he taunted. Cyborg smirked slightly as he replied "You're right...I will." and before Dominic could react, Cyborg's free hand had morphed into the sonic cannon and blasted the vampire point blank, sending him flying over the edge of the Tower. Immediately Robin ran off to see if Dominic landed, but he was gone.

Beast Boy was helping a shaken Raven back to her feet, wrapping one of the blankets he had brought with him around her. He pulled her close as she broke down crying again, this time only moments away from whatever activity Dominic had planned.

"Shhh...it's ok...he's gone...he didn't get to you..." Beast Boy whispered reassuringly, stroking her violet hair.

"Just who was that guy?" Robin asked, deciding not to ask the obvious question of why they were in their underwear. Beast Boy sighed as it was now or never his friends learned the truth...

"Dude...we've got something we need to tell you...Raven and I are vampires..."


	6. Face of God

Seriously, thank you guys for your kind words on this! I'm so relieved to know you dudes and dudettes like this! ROCK ON!

* * *

"...and that's what happened." Beast Boy said, finishing up the long tale on what turned him and his pale beauty into vampires. The remaining three Titans just stared back blankly, their faces vacant expressions of shock.

They had regrouped back in Ops, but with the lights out as per the request of Beast Boy. Instead, the only light in the room came from several candles, courtesy of Starfire's scented candle collection, that had been lit casting tall dancing shadows across the room.

Beast Boy had put on a ratty, worn out Thundercats tee-shirt, but clad in his black boxers with the glittery red heart pattern. Raven on the other hand was still in her underwear, her blanket wrapped tightly around her body as she stared down at the floor, unblinking, unmoving. Just staring.

"So...does that mean you can turn into a bat and stuff?" Cyborg asked. Beast Boy just shook his head. "No dude...Rae taught me all about it. All that stuff about garlic and crosses and no reflections...it's all just urban legends." he said quietly, his hand on the small of Raven's back, though on the blanket as she wouldn't let him touch her bare skin, which was odd for her. Though given the circumstances, the broken hearted changeling knew exactly why.

"What do you and friend Raven plan on doing now?" Starfire asked, her emerald eyes serving as a gateway into her emotions. The once shiny emerald orbs were now dull and lacked their normal luster due to the concern she felt for her friends.

Beast Boy sighed dejectedly, as he knew the all too familiar answer by this point. "The only thing we can do, Star...Raven and I have to leave."

Starfire gasped and covered her mouth with her hands from shock. "No! This simply cannot be! Why, friend Beast Boy, must you take leave of us?"

"It's...it's not that we want to leave, Star...we kinda have to..." Beast Boy managed to spit out. He didn't like the idea that he had to field all their questions alone, but poor Raven seemed to be in a state of shock as she just continued to stare her unmoving glaze, fixated at the floor.

"You don't have to do that. You two are welcome to stay here for as long as you want..." Robin offered.

"Dude...I appreciate that, but Rae is right...what good could we do? Hide in the shadows? Only fight villains at night?" he asked, the bitter truth of the changeling's words stinging the Boy Wonder deep within. "There has to be a way to reverse the effects..." said Cyborg, his words now echoing the very same blissful optimism that Beast Boy himself had once had.

"Cy, as much as..." the jade skinned prankster had started to speak, but was cut off by a quiet and emotionless Raven.

"There is a cure." she said softly, her voice gentle and fragile at the same time. She had always been an emotionally strong Titan, but Dominic's repeated attacks and his attempted rape have pushed the empath to her emotional limit.

Beast Boy's jaw dropped, as the air felt like it was sucked out of Ops in one sudden and swift gust. "Wha-wha?" was all he could stammer. "You...you said there was no cure?"

Her focus still on the floor and away from the other Titans, Raven spoke quietly. Her frail voice reminded Starfire of a dying tree she had once seen as a young girl on Tammaran. It had been poisoned by a vengeful farmer, wishing to extract his own brand of justice on his rival. The once proud tree had been reduced to a sickly hollowed out twig, beaten and abused by the elements. Starfire could feel her her heart break inside to a thousands little shards of misery for her fallen friend, but at the same time felt a fury build inside her like she had never quite felt before. A hurricane of malice and torment she wished to exact on Dominic, making him regret the day he ever set foot in Jump City.

"I...I didn't think there was a cure." said Raven, "But when Dominic was..." she swallowed her spit hard trying to tame the uncontrollable tears that wanted to explode out of her eyes "...on top of me...he forced his thoughts into my mind. His desires...his life...everything he knows, he made me know."

There was another tense silence in the room as everyone waited for Raven to continue at her own will.

"The cure lies in the ruins of Azarath, underneath the Temple of Azar, in a hidden chamber that I was unaware existed."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "And what is the cure exactly?"

Raven took a deep breath, as she was having a difficult time attempting to separate her memories and desires from those of Dominic's. Without her normal means of meditation to help balance her emotions out, she felt devastated and empty inside, like the aftermath of a huge war had been waged in her soul and now only chaos and disorder remained.

"The Holy Grail." she said flatly. "The cup Christ drank from the night he was arrested. It's said whoever drinks from the cup will be cleaned of any and all infirmities...that is, if the heart is pure."

"And...if the heart isn't pure?" Cyborg asked, his voice tinted with a sense of worry and even traces of disbelief. The empath's delivery was cold and emotionless. "Then they die." she said simply.

Robin shook his head, still confused by her explanation. "I don't want to pry Raven, but this doesn't add up. How would Azarath wind up with the Holy Grail?" Raven closed her eyes, trying to shut out Dominic's thoughts and essence which were at war with hers. A couple of minutes passed before she spoke again.

"Thousands of years ago there was an angel named Lucifer who was one of the most trusted and loyal servants in all of Heaven. As time passed, though, he began to find himself in disagreement with the management, so to speak, over various issues. He felt man should embrace their lust, greed and hate as that's what truly made them human, not to deny it as others would say. As his patience with the status quo wore thin, he began to stir up some of the other angels with talk of a revolution to overtake the throne. One of these angels was a man named Dominic..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Beast Boy interrupted. "You're trying tell me that psychopath dude is an angel!" he squealed in disbelief..

Raven merely raised a hand to silence him. "Please, let me finish." she said.

"Over time Dominic became Lucifer's general, if you will. Lucifer managed to convince one third of the entire angel population to join him, claiming that he and he alone should be chosen to rule Heaven. Dominic agreed...for the most part, though his reasons were a little more personal. He was in love with another angel who returned his feelings. They were lovers, though they attempted to keep it a secret from the rest."

"I fail to see the reason why this may cause Dominic to join the rebellion." Starfire said quietly, completely engrossed in Raven's story.

"Angels aren't allowed to love as you love Robin or I love Gar. This infuriated Dominic as he felt he should be free to love who he wanted." the empath added.

Starfire nodded, suddenly feeling slightly sorry for Dominic, but quickly replacing the sympathy with the anger she felt towards him. "So who was Dominic's girlfriend?" Cyborg asked, leaning forward on a backwards chair. Raven grimaced as if someone had stabbed her with a hunting knife. Her gaze returned to the floor, and when she spoke, her voice was merely a tone above a whisper.

"Her name was Arella..."

Beast Boy's face contorted to that of awe and bewilderment, reeling from what Raven has just uttered. "Rae...that's your Mom's name..." he said quietly. The pale girl just nodded her head. "I know..." she finally said, "My mother and Dominic were lovers."

That simple phrase sent a shock wave through the four Titans, each one staring back in complete disbelief. "Raven...I'm...sorry..." Robin said in a hushed voice. Raven never acknowledged the Boy Wonder, just felt a single tear run down her cheek as she drew herself back together to finish the story.

"Dominic tried to convince my mother to join him on Lucifer's army, but she refused. She insisted they served a higher cause and deep down inside, she knew Lucifer's army didn't stand a chance. War broke out between the two sides and needless to say, God's army won easily. The rebels were stripped of their holy blood and cast out from Heaven, with Lucifer vowing revenge but Dominic...Dominic was furious at my mother at her refusal, calling her traitor and a witch."

She cleared her throat, as she could feel Dominic's anger towards her mother crawl into her soul and it made the Azarathian sick at her stomach.

"So...what happened next?" Beast Boy asked. Robin cringed thinking it was the wrong thing to dredge up these memories that weren't even hers to begin with, but surprisingly she stayed calm and continued on...

"Sensing a problem, God took the angels who wished to feel love and sent them away from Heaven. But in order to make sure they were happy, Azarath was created so that they could live in peace. Dominic, on the other hand, demanded reward from Lucifer for his service, saying he was loyal and faithful to 'the cause' to the very end. And he was rewarded...rewarded with immortality..."

"But at a catch, right? He was made a vampire?" Robin asked, the pieces of the puzzle starting to fall into place now.

Raven nodded. "He made a deal with the devil."

"So this Dominic merely wishes to get the revenge on your mother by attacking you?" Starfire asked.

"At first, yes. That was his intent...but..." Raven attempted to finish, but the tears were too much now. Beast Boy encompassed her in a big hug as she sobbed bitterly into his shoulder. The changeling stroked her bare back softly underneath the blanket, kissing her head. "You don't have to finish if you don't want to..." he said compassionately.

She sat back to where she was before, and wiped a tear from her eye. "No..." she said, her quavering voice slowly starting to gather strength again. "I have to...I can't let him win." She closed her eyes and breathed in and exhaled softly several times in a row...when she felt her nerves were back in order, she continued.

"At first Dominic merely wanted revenge on my mother and the best way to do that, he felt, was to curse me to becoming a vampire. But...that wasn't enough for him. He noticed how...how I resemble her...and he became attracted to me. Even in my head right now, I can see all the sick, twisted fantasies he has towards me. His motive has changed, he just doesn't want to curse me now...he wants me. Physically."

Cyborg's metal fist was clenched in tight grip, and with a mighty yell he slammed his fist down on the chair he had been sitting at, reducing it to kindling. "I'm gonna kill that blood sucking bastard!" he fumed. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go to Azarath and get the cup!"

"It's not that easy, Cyborg." Raven said quietly. "Only those with holy blood can go to Azarath. That leaves me and Gar."

"Uhh...since when did B get holy blood?" the cybernetic Titan asked confused. "Since he drank my blood to sustain himself." she replied.

Robin stood there quietly, as did Cyborg and Starfire. "So I'll guess you'll be leaving soon..." he said, his voice misleading to the worriment he felt for his friends safety. "The sooner the better..." said Raven "Dominic wants the grail too as he believes sipping it will grant him God-like powers. And he has access to Azarath because my blood is now in him"

"Do you think you can beat him?" Robin asked.

Raven was blunt and honest with her reply. "We have no choice." she said firmly. "Come Gar.." she said standing up, the blanket draped around her like a cocoon.

"Wait!" Cyborg protested, eagerly hustling his way to Raven. "Rae...before you go, I want you to have this..." and with saying this opened a small compartment on his arm and produced from it a simple gold necklace with a small gold cross at the end. "My mother gave me this when I was just a little boy...right before she died. I want you to have it...for good luck, ya know?" he said with a faint smile on his face.

The Azarathian cradled the necklace in her hands, her eyes gentle with appreciation at the kind thought, before she fastened it on her neck, with Beast Boy holding the blanket on her. "Cyborg..." she said softly "...thank you." before attempting to hug him as best she can without dropping her blanket. Beast Boy just grinned and patted Cyborg on the shoulder. "Dude, you are so my best man if I get married..."

Dawn was close to break and Raven hurried the process along eager to get back to what was left of Azarath. She had returned to her leotard and cloak, finding it provided a familiar level of comfort and security that helped ease her mind. Beast Boy had returned to his uniform as well, snapping the belt closed as Raven poured the ceremonial salt in intricate patterns on their bedroom floor.

Beast Boy sat down in the familiar lotus meditation position, across from Raven who was sitting in a similar fashion "Now Gar...focus your mind on me. Don't worry about repeating what I say, just focus on me and make sure your hands never leave my body."

"That shouldn't be a problem..." he said with a sly grin. Raven closed her eyes and began to chant the incantation...

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Carazon Rakashas Endere...Vaserix Endrien Azarath...AZARATH AZARATH!"

Instantly the two lovers were engulfed in a piercing blue glow that surrounded them both, swirling like a vortex of pure light. Beast Boy felt completely weightless, like he was a feather in a strong wind. With his eyes tightly closed, he could hear the air wooshing around him reminding the jade skinned prankster of being on a roller coaster...and then, just as soon as it happened, it stopped.

"You can open your eyes now, Gar."

Beast Boy opened his green eyes and gasped at what he saw. As far as the eye could see stood before him what was once a beautiful city, now reduced to charred rubble thanks to Trigon. Nothing was left standing as everything had been completely demolished as if it came from a photo showing the aftermath of an atomic bomb drop.

"Azarath..." Raven said quietly. "I'm home..."


	7. In Joy and Sorrow

Not much to say here. Just really glad you guys are liking it! (NOTE: For Raven's story to make more sense, go read my other fanfic "The Smell of Victory", specifically the "Having A Wonderful Time" chapter)

* * *

Beast Boy scanned the area of what was once Azarath. The sky was heavy with a dull, dreary gray overcast that hung thickly in the air, blocking out any attempts at sunlight.

"This is where she grew up..." he thought to himself. He glanced over at her to see if he could read her facial expression, but like always, it was blank and void. She had grabbed his hand though and was squeezing it hard, hinting at the emotional distress she was in to be back home.

"So...where is the temple?" the changeling asked softly. A breeze ushered past the two Titans, slightly chilling Beast Boy yet Raven seemed unmoved by it, the gentle wind pushing her fading violet locks back slightly as she just stared straight ahead.

"It's on the other side of Azarath." she finally said. "We need to get moving before Dominic shows up." Her voice was empty, yet sounded different from her normal emotionless tone, as if she wasn't repressing her emotions anymore, but more to the extent she had no emotions to begin with. She started to walk briskly, her footsteps echoing across the deserted city, letting go of Beast Boy's hand.

"Rae, wait! If Dominic was stripped of his holy blood, how can he get in here?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven stopped, her back turned to him. She didn't bother to turn around to speak to him, instead just kept looking straight ahead as she replied. "He drank my blood first, remember? He has enough holy blood in him to get through the gate. We're wasting time." she said flatly and continued walking at a brisk pace.

The changeling hurried to catch up with her, finally matching her brisk pace stride for stride. He dangled his hand down to see if she would grab it again, as he was too nervous to make the move himself, and much to his relief she hurriedly grabbed it, squeezing it tightly.

"This place used to be so beautiful..." she said. "I remember when I was young looking at these buildings and thinking they could touch the sky. That if I were to climb to the top, I could play in the clouds and be an angel, like my mother was, and soar through the sky." As she finished, Beast Boy could feel the grip on his hand tighten. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to ease her pain.

"Rae...I...I have to ask you something..." Beast Boy finally croaked. The words didn't feel like his own, like someone was speaking for him. He felt distanced from himself, like he was watching the action unfold from a television. Raven just merely cocked a curious eyebrow in response to his question, that being her only response.

"I...I've always wondered something and...and if you wanna kill me or breakup with me...I'd understand, but there's just one thing about your past that doesn't add up..." he said, his knees shaking slightly, expecting at any moment for Raven to smite him. "How did...uhhh...your Mom...how did she..."

"You're curious how Trigon impregnated my mother?" she asked, the bluntness of the question catching the changeling off guard. "Uhh...yeah...that." was all he manged to say in reply.

Raven nodded, as if she understood and eased off his hand a bit, but still didn't let go.

"Trigon has many physical forms, the most common of which is the one you saw inside my mind and when he...used me as a portal." she said, the last part coming out slightly slower than the rest. Even though it had been a couple of years since that fateful day, the wounds still scarred the empath's tender soul. "When my mother first arrived at the newly created Azarath, she was lonely as her only love in life had been cast out of Heaven. Trigon was a demon created by Lucifer himself using the darkest of magics to be the ultimate warrior for his army."

"But why your Mom?"

"Patience Gar, I'm getting to that." she said simply. "Trigon wanted an heir, someone he would bring up to follow in his footsteps should he be slain. But no mortal was capable of bearing his seed, no, he needed something stronger. An angel. My mother."

She paused to close her eyes, her grip increasing on Beast Boy's hand, yet her face was still calm and serene.

"He managed to magically disguise himself as a normal man who had injured himself in an accident and needed medical attention. One night he frantically knocked on her door begging for help...my mother felt sympathy for him and reached out to heal him and it was then she sensed his demon aura. By then it was too late...he got what he wanted."

"So...what happened to him then? He got banished right?"

"Right." Raven said cooly with a slight nod. "Mother eventually made her way to the temple to warn them, with the monks then casting his soul into Hell."

"But...he got out?"

"One of the monks, named Simon, became obsessed with Trigon. It was Simon who founded the followers of Scath so they could worship him in secret. After years of study, he finally found a way to break the seal and release Trigon from Hell."

She took a deep breath as this part was the hardest to talk about.

"Released from his prison, Trigon unleashed havoc on Azarath, making sure he took the monks out first and with them out of the way, he laid waste to the entire city, saving my mother for last. Before she died she managed to muster enough strength to banish him with a blood seal..."

"What's a blood seal?" Beast Boy interrupted.

Raven let out a big defeated sigh. As much as she loved him, he had the attention span of a gnat.

"A blood seal is...like a curse. Mother managed to banish Trigon back to Hell, but used her own blood to seal the 'gate', so to speak. It's...because of this that he used me to free himself. A curse closed by a blood seal can only be opened by the same blood that closed it." Beast Boy's eyes widened at this, it all suddenly making sense.

"So that's why he needed you! Because you have, like..the same blood as your Mom?"

"Exactly. And now...now he's gone. For good. When I finally realized I was in control of my own fate...at the moment all of the lost souls of Azarath flew into me and I had the power I needed to end him forever." she added defiantly, her grip loosening again.

"It's official..." Beast Boy said smiling "My girlfriend kicks butt!"

"Suckup." she said grinning, pretending the compliment annoyed her, but knowing full well she enjoyed it.

The two continued their brisk walk when suddenly Raven stopped abruptly at the ruins of a small stone and wood house. The walls had been leveled, with black char and soot covering everything in thick coats and large demonic foot prints dotted the landscape. This little cottage seemed to have taken the worse of Trigon's wrath. Raven slowly made her way past what Beast Boy guessed was the front yard, into the ruins of the house.

"Rae wait..." the changeling objected. "I thought we were in a hurry..."

Raven didn't respond, but instead, with a hushed sense of awe, ran her hand in a gentle glide over the burnt husk of what used to be a dinner table. Her pale fingers covered in a dark ash she did not bother to remove. Beast Boy quickly ran over to her, the jade skinned prankster finding it kind of creepy standing in the middle of the abandoned street by himself. "Dude, Rae...what is this place?" he asked.

"It's...just like I remember it..." she said softly, her attention now focused on a small bed in the corner of the room, with her eyes carrying a soft, almost mournful reflection. She sat on the edge of the bed and traced her fingers over the dirty silk sheets and bit her bottom lip, as many painful memories came flooding back.

"Dude, what is this place?" he asked, but again she didn't give an answer. "It seems so small now..." was all she said. Confused, Beast Boy looked around the room for something to gain his quickly fading interest and upon glancing down at the floor, found a small rag doll.

The doll in question was under a foot long, with muddy yarn for hair that at one point had been a bright golden blond. The dress looked like it was hand sewn from old bed sheets and was caked in dirt and soot, the eyes of the doll were two violet buttons sewn on, with the left eye hanging loose. The mouth was merely a curved line etched in by ink, a crude, yet happy smile on it's face.

Beast Boy held the doll in front of him with a curious glance, inspecting it from head to toe. "I wonder who this belonged to..." he said with a slight mocking tone, confused how anyone could entertain themselves without a GameStation 720 or even an old school GameBlaster 2600.

"Her name is Miss Sally...and she's mine." Raven said, her voice cold and heavy. Beast Boy felt the color draining from his face as he timidly put the doll on what was left of the dinner table. "I'm sorry..." he said quietly.

"This...was my mother's house. I lived here till I was 5 and had to go to the temple with the other children." she said, before adding "You seem surprised I had a doll."

Beast Boy shrugged, not wanting to get himself into any more hot water. "Well...I mean...Rae...you gotta admit...you don't seem like the dollie type.."

Raven nodded and sat up from the bed, dusting the soot and grime off her cloak. "We need to be leaving." she said flatly. "We wasted too much time here and we need to get to the temple. The blood we drank will only last us for so long..."

"Right Rae! Let's boogey!" Beast Boy said and making his back into the street, morphed into a horse for Raven to take a ride.

"Shame you didn't turn into a donkey or else I would have a made about you being an ass..." she said with a sly grin. Beast Boy just snorted in irritation, as he lowered himself closer to the ground for her to ride on. She climbed aboard and grabbed his mane for balance. "Alright Green Stallion..." she said sarcastically. "...keep following the cobblestone road straight ahead and we'll reach the temple." Beast Boy reared his hooves in the air, strictly to show off to her, and galloped at a steady pace.

Behind them, making his way out from behind some rubble of another destroyed building, emerged Dominic. "That's right, dear Raven..." he sneered "...just a few short moments and you and I shall be together...forever."


	8. Beyond Redemption

Wow this story wound up being a bit longer than I thought it would. Oh well! And this isn't the last chapter. The next one will be the last and it'll just be a fluffy epilogue to wrap the story up. CUZ I KNOW YOU LUV FLUFF!

* * *

The temple was a lot bigger than Beast Boy had imagined, and he imagined it to be pretty big to begin with. The aging temple looked crumbled, with large pieces of marble scattering the courtyard. The steps, which were once carved out of the purest white marble, were now faded, cracked in various places, with vines and weeds overgrowing them.

In the center of the courtyard was what once stood a huge fountain, but had been dry for many years. Beast Boy secretly hoped the brown looking stains he saw on the marble were dirt and not ancient blood. Still in his horse form, he lowered herself down to the ground allowing Raven to climb off.

The empath gazed at the ruins and closed her eyes softly. She could almost hear the innocent giggles of her fellow students, laughing and playing in the courtyard and if she focused just hard enough, she could still hear the echoes of her 5 year old self. It was a simpler, happier time in her life.

But when she opened her eyes and saw the ruins of Azarath, the grim reality of the situation smacked her like an out of control cement truck. For a brief second, she felt discouraged about her life in general. Even if she did find the Grail, was it worth it in the end? Would it even work? Her answer came in the form of two wiry arms that wrapped themselves around her waist, a gentle kiss placed on her neck. And suddenly, she knew what she had to live for again.

"Come Gar..." she said softly, the changeling already having morphed back into his human form. Beast Boy reluctantly let go of her waist and followed her up the high rising flight of stairs, careful not to slip on the slick moss.

"Hey Rae!" he shouted when he reached the top. "Watch this!" and then proceeded to throw some phantom punches in the air, like a prized boxer. After a couple of hooks and jabs, the jade skinned prankster extended his arms in the air promptly, as he jumped up and down shouting "YO ADRIENNE! I DID IT!"

Raven, not amused, merely rolled her eyes. "When you are done acting like an idiot, I could use your assistance in the main room." Beast Boy stopped jumping in his post-knockout Rocky celebration and slowly lowered his arms down to his sides, blushing slightly. "Sorry..." he said quietly. The empath's gaze and attitude softened a bit seeing him blush like this as she found it impossible to stay irritated at him for too long.

Beast Boy could sense his girlfriend's attitude change and grinned broadly. "C'mon show-off." she said with a smirk, as her eager green beau following in her foot steps.

The inside of the temple gave that impression that at one point it was a vastly big structure. The roof had collapsed in certain parts and gray light peaked through in strong, bright, beams, which confused Beast Boy at why this light didn't seem to hurt him or Raven.

Past the rubble of huge chunks of scorched marble was a statue covered in vines. It appeared to be made in the image of a beautiful woman, with large, majestic wings behind her and in her right hand she seemed to be clutching a sword high in the air. "Who's this?" he asked.

Raven tore some of the vines away from the statue causing the gray light to reflect off it, almost blinding the green changeling. "This...is Azar." Raven said almost awestruck. "She was the high priestess of Azarath and the one who taught me to control my powers and emotions. Without her...I'd be nothing."

"Uhh...thanks for helping my girlfriend..." Beast Boy said to the statue, which almost seemed to smile back in response. "So where is this secret passage thingie?"

Raven admired the statue of Azar for a bit, before pointing to the base of the sculpture. "Right underneath the base. We need to move it. I could use my powers, but in this state it would drain me too quickly. So it's up to you."

"Not a problem!" the jade skinned prankster said with full confidence. "Beast Boy's Guranteed Smash While-U-Wait service is officially open!" and morphed into a T-Rex, reading to smash the statue with his tail. "GAR WAIT!" Raven pleaded, as Beast Boy stopped himself in mid swing, morphing to a fly to stop the momentum of the tail. Raven breathed a sigh of relief before continuing on. "This place, Azarath...it's my childhood and yet it's smashed, gone, burnt by Trigon. And now this statue of Azar is all that's left. Please just push it out of the way...for me?"

The tone of her voice when she "for me?" was unlike anything Garfield Logan had ever heard from her. It was pleading in nature, the tone soft with worriment. It then dawned on him that Raven never had the chance to have much of a childhood growing up, as Azar _WAS_ her childhood and here he was going to just smash it into dust.

Beast Boy gave solemn nod and morphed back into his familiar gorilla form. He cracked his large hairy knuckles and pressing his back against the statue, used his muscular primate legs to push the ridiculously heavy statue out of the way. Slowly but surely, a descending staircase made itself known, leading downwards into a very dark and quiet sub-basement.

"Phew! There's my workout for the week..." the changeling wheezed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Raven frowned slightly at the dark staircase, having no clue where it led or how safe it would be to venture down.

"Wait I so have an idea!" Beast Boy proudly proclaimed and quickly morphed into a bat, flying down into the inky blackness as he bounced his sonic waves off the area, getting a good idea of what was ahead of them. A few tense minutes passed by before he zoomed back up the staircase, switching back to his normal form. "Rae, I got everything we need! Just follow me!" and extended his hand to guide her.

"Famous last words." she dead panned, as Beast Boy took her hand into his. "So how far down is the Grail?" she asked, making her way down the stairs. Beast Boy just shrugged. "Dunno. My sound waves got to the end and there's like a huge door there."

As the two Titans made their way further and further down the staircase, the light faded from twilight to pitch black. Raven could literally not see her hand in front of her face, as it was so dark, but she trusted his judgment, though Common Sense was screaming inside of her not to.

"It's cold down here..." she said shivering. "Almost there..." Beast Boy replied "Ah! Here we are!"

To Raven, they had been going in the same spot forever now, as she hadn't seen anything upon entering, instead merely following Beast Boy. But now he claimed they were at the base of the stairs, apparently facing the large door he had mentioned earlier. "Gar, I can't see anything..." she complained "..how am I supposed to find this door?" and blindly felt her way along a smooth wall, until her outstretched palm sunk into some sort of switch.

Instantly torches scattered around the room lit up, spilling light on the two confused lovers. "Uhh...good job, Rae..." Beast Boy said, confused at what had just transpired. Raven was just as stunned as he is, her violet eyes adjusting to the bright light from the torches.

A huge stone slab slowly slid away from the walls, revealing a well-lit chamber with many torches and a staircase that led to a small pedestal. Beast Boy slowly walked into the room, the changeling completely flabbergasted at just how vast and open it actually was.

"I bet you could fit like, three Titans Towers in here..." he said breathlessly. On each side of the marble staircase were two huge statues, both of them much larger versions of the Azar statue he had seen earlier. His eyes traced up the steps, which at the peak of the pedestal sat a plain looking golden chalice. The Holy Grail.

"The Grail..." Raven said breathlessly. "It's here..."

"Indeed. Quite the sight, is it not?" suddenly came a voice, the sound of which sent Beast Boy's heart sinking in his chest.

It was Dominic.

Stepping out of the shadows near the base of the stairs came the smirking vampire, having changed his suit from before as it lacked the massive blood stain due to his fight with Beast Boy.

"What do you want?" Beast Boy demanded, his fists clenched. Dominic just chuckled to himself as approached the two Titans, the same lecherous smirk square on his face. "The same thing you do...the Grail."

"Because you think you can gain the powers of God by drinking it?" the Azarathian spit through clenched teeth. "You are a fool."

Dominic laughed to himself and stared at Raven, the empath finding herself paralyzed again with whatever underworldy powers he had at his disposal.

Beast Boy shouted with rage as he morphed into a bull, charging at the vampire with two needle sharp horns. Dominic, his glance never leaving Raven, easily dodged the attack this time with his blinding speed.

Beast Boy turned around having missed the vampire, now having the form of a grizzly bear, swinging his large paws in a flurry at Dominic, who again eagerly side stepped each attack.

"I don't get it..." Beast Boy thought to himself "I totally owned this guy last time..."

Dominic blocked one paw with his empty hand and with that delivered a stinging punch that sent the green bear crashing into a nearby statue, taking him out of the action as he became buried underneath the rubble and knocked unconscious.

That just left Dominic and Raven.

"So where did we leave off last time?" he cooed, stroking the side of her face with his hand. "Oh that's right..." and with a gleam in his eyes, unbuttoned her cloak, letting it fall to the floor.

"How did you beat Gar?" the empath demanded. Dominic grinned, showcasing his fangs. "He caught me off guard last time, as I was off balance from then on in our altercation. Unprepared. But now that I know what to expect...well, your beau won't be getting up anytime soon."

Dominic leaned forward and gently bit Raven's left ear lobe, seductively nibbling on it, before dragging his tongue down her neck.

"You taste sinfully delicious." he oozed. "And now the question that has been on my mind for some time now...just how does your delightful outfit come off?"

Raven didn't respond. Just closed her eyes and hoped that was all a bad dream that she would be waking up from soon. Dominic stroked his hands over Raven's waist, caressing it softly, gingerly, till his hand came down slightly behind her left hip bone. There he found the clasp where the leotard buttoned itself shut. "Ah yes, the key to the treasure chest."

He unsnapped the leotard and lightly touched her bare upper thigh, breathing hard into her ear. Raven, for her part, kept as calm as she could in this situation, but felt panic tugging at her soul. "Think Raven!" her mind screamed. "Think of something...anything..." and then suddenly she had it.

"You...win." she said her voice lonely with defeat, hoping Dominic would buy her performance. The perverted vampire stopped his groping, his face slightly stunned, but still very satisfied. "I knew you would come around, my sweet Raven! It delights me to my very soul to see you embracing your dark blood. If you wish, we could find more...romantic quarters." he said, stroking her chin.

Raven forced a smile on her face, as she continued her Oscar-worthy act. "I like that idea, my love...but..." she whispered, her voice trailing off. "But what?" Dominic worried.

"Well, my love, it's just that...there would be nothing special about our rendezvous. Why make love to a vampire, when I could make love to a god?" she cooed, but despite her seductive appearance, inside she felt like she was going to throw up. "I hope he buys this..." she mentally repeated to herself.

Dominic smiled big, liking the pale beauty's idea. "Of course, my dear. Only the highest of pleasures for you." and let go of his psychic paralysis on her. Raven breathed a sigh of relief and with Dominic's back turned, snapped her leotard closed, before picking up her cloak and putting it back on. She watched as Dominic made his way up the stairs, holding the Holy Grail over his head upon taking it into his hands

"And now, I ascend!" he bellowed and lowered the chalice to his lips, sipping the red wine within.

Nothing happened right away.

But then suddenly, Dominic began to laugh uncontrollably, his guffaws becoming louder and harder, roaring with mad delight.

"YESS! YESS! I CAN FEEL IT! THE POWER IS MINE! I AM ONE WITH GOD!"

Then almost as fast as the grin appeared, it quickly faded from his face. What was once insane glee now became fear and paranoia. "No...no...this can't be happening..." he panicked.

"Noo...Noooooooooooo..." were the last things to escape from his lips as he suddenly burst into flames, the smell of burning flesh filling the cavernous room.

Dominic fell to his knees in agony as the holy fire burnt through his clothes and singed his flesh, hunks of molten skin fell in bubbling globules off his bones, his agonizing screams of torment echoing without pity off the remaining statute of Azar. Dominic opened his mouth to scream one last time, but all the came out was a blood curdling gurgle, as what was left of his skeleton violently tumbled down the stair case landing at the feet of Raven.

Stepping over the smoldering carcass, Raven made her way up the steps and picked up the chalice from the floor, surprised it was still full of wine, as if somehow it could never be emptied out. Raven paused as she held it in her hands...she had been through so much, could this really be the end? The cure? The way out?

She took a deep breath and lifted the chalice to her lips, sipping the wine...

* * *

Beast Boy woke up in a daze, unsure of where he was . Sitting up and casting the sheets off him, he glanced around, and as his brains became unscrambled, he suddenly realized where he was.

"Dude! We're in our bedroom!" he shouted loudly. Sitting in a chair from across the bed was Raven, reading one of her dusty archaic spell books. "Good morning, Gar." she said with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"Rae...you're never going to believe this, but I had this whacked out dream. There was this dude, right? His name was Domino or something and he was a vampire! And he, like bit you and made you a vampire and then he kept on trying to do it with you and then we went to Azarath and then.." He was interrupted by a sudden kiss from Raven who had crawled on the bed with him, her mouth open slightly, as their tongues intertwined in a fiery display of affection. When she pulled away, she ran her hands through his olive hair.

"It wasn't a dream, Gar..." she said softly.

"It isn't! But Dominic...and...the Grail?"

"Shhh...it's ok, Gar. We found the Grail and you and I drank from it. We're back to our old selves and we're no longer vampires. We're free."

"But what about Dominic?" the changeling asked, worried for her safety.

"Remember how I told you that I told him to go to hell?"

"Yeah?"

"He heeded my advice." she said, a slight smirk on the corner of his mouth. Beast Boy was ecstatic.

"HA! Take that you creepy blood sucker!" he shouted at the ground, sticking his tongue out at the carpet. "I'm just glad I had that pure heart thingie you talked about..."

Raven cocked a curious eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you have a pure heart?"

Beast Boy blushed and scratched the back of his neck "Well...let's just say I had kind of an interesting dream about you couple of weeks ago...and was worried about that whole "Lust being a sin" thing..."

Raven merely rolled her eyes in jest. "Sadly the Grail didn't seem to fix your hormones." she teased. Beast Boy smirked before kissing her again, pulling her closer to him as he laid back on the bed. A few minutes of passionate embracing passed by, before Raven gently pushed herself back.

"Easy there, killer. Let's not get too carried away."

"Right..." Beast Boy nodded. "I'm tired. Care to take a nap?"

"I thought you'd never ask..." she said, resting her head on under his arm as the two lovers drifted off to sleep, safe and secure in their own bed.


	9. Beautiful

Wow, that story felt like a freakin' epic to me, man. 9 chapters overall, a new record for me. Thanks for all the good word and tell your friends about me! The more the merrier!

On another note, I suck at art. I was wondering if anybody out there would care to try their hand at some fan art based on some of my stories? I'm broke as a joke, so there's no way I can pay you...but I'll gladly pimp the hell out of your work any chance I get!

ONE MORE THING: The song Beast Boy plays for Raven is "Beautiful" by the band H.I.M (The name of this story and all the chapter titles are all H.I.M songs.) I suggest you all go out after reading this story and BUY EVERY SINGLE H.I.M CD YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON!

* * *

It had been two weeks since Raven and Beast Boy's humanity had been restored and Beast Boy was trying to put the event behind him as best he could. It didn't take long as many all-night sessions of "ROBOT ZOMBIE APOCYLASPE III" with Cyborg had quickly erased most of the bad memories of Dominic.

Raven on the other hand couldn't rid herself of them so easily. Dominic had done more than just humiliate her...he had managed to scar her deep inside, finding ways to mess with her soul in means she never thought possible. At this current time, the empath was floating several feet off her bed mediating in her lotus position, with her eyes tightly closed as she attempted to push out Dominic's thoughts and desires from her mind.

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos..."

Her body was calm and still, unmoving except for her soft and gentle breaths.

"_Ah yes, the key to the treasure chest..._"

His words still echoed in her mind as if he were standing right next to her. She thought about opening an eye to check and make sure that the perverted vampire wasn't there breathing heavily next to her.

"Don't be foolish." she thought, chastising herself. "Dominic is dead. Just focus on purging his influence from you." and continued her mediation.

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos..."

In her mind, she pictured Dominic leering at her with lustful intent gleaming in his eyes. Then almost as if he were made of sand, she pictured his body being blown away piece by piece, molecule by molecule. It started from his hair, then down his face, till his entire head was gone. It was a slow process but it was working...with each passing moment the hurt and trauma he had inflicted upon her was dwindling down to nothing more than a distant memory, similar to if one stubbed his or her own toe and were recollecting on it months later.

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos..."

The dust was now being blown away from his mid-section, down past his thighs till there was nothing left of the lecherous vampire. She slowly opened her violet eye orbs and breathed a sigh of relief. Dominic was gone. Completely.

She gently floated back down on her bed and glanced at her alarm clock. 9:24 PM. She had been mediating for 6 hours straight.

"And Gar says I don't have a social life." she dead panned, sighing to herself. She summoned her cloak from it's rack across the room, encasing it in her dark energy, and fastened it back on making her way to Ops. Before she had begun her mediation, Beast Boy had mentioned something about going to play Gamestation 720 with Cyborg and Robin. Raven assumed they'd still be locked in an intense battle for nerd supremacy, with Starfire playing with Silkie in the background.

When the doors slid for Ops slid open, Raven was greeted with utter and complete silence. Nobody was there. Curious she flipped the light switch, the white florescent lighting of Ops humming to life.

"Rather odd..." she said to herself. It was then the empath noticed a sticky note on the front of their big screen TV. Peeling it off the glass, she noticed it was Beast Boy's hand writing.

"_HEY BABE! If you get this meet me on the roof! Luv, BB"_

The note filled the pale girl with a sense of curiosity at what exactly the green changeling had planned for this evening. "Only one way to find out." she thought to herself, and without so much as a second guess, she was off to the roof.

Raven slowly pushed open the door to the roof, exposing the night sky to her. The temperature outside was perfect to her own personal tastes...warm, with just a slightly too cold breeze that would cut through every and now and then, but not often enough as to make one uncomfortable. The sky was completely clear with not a single cloud in view, the stars shone down from their pitch black host in the heavens, shining like thousands of tiny lights.

A bit away from the door was Beast Boy dressed in a light brown suit that looked it was straight out of 1978. The changeling was sitting down in front of a small card table, with a red and white checkered table cloth covering it, his face planted on the table, as he was sound asleep. The only non-star light was a large black candle from their bedroom sitting in the middle of the table. At this point, the candle had been lit for awhile and had burned down half way to a waxy, melted stump.

Squinting her eyes Raven could make out a Bloaty's Pizza Barn box in the dim candle light, the familiar grease stains soaking through the cardboard box. The Azarathian made her way over to the sleeping prankster, a small puddle of drool coming down from his mouth on the table.

"Gar...Gar..." she said softly, shaking him gently to wake him up. Beast Boy slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness of the night sky. "Rae?" he asked, still half awake. "You're done mediating? I guess I fell asleep waiting for you."

"Mm-hmm." she said, nodding her head slightly. "What's with all of this?" she added, motioning towards the candle lit pizza dinner. "Oh yeah! That!" Beast Boy said, his energy coming back to him now that he was woken up. "Well, like...I was thinking how we've never really had a real date since we started dating, right? So I figured, 'specially since the Domino vampire dude is gone, we should totally celebrate."

"With pizza?" Raven replied with a raised eyebrow, the dryness of her voice betraying the amusement she was getting at his honest effort to impress her.

"Well...I didn't exactly _PLAN_ on pizza. I was gonna make this really awesome pasta Cyborg had made for Sarah once, but I was gonna make it veggie friendly and not use any meat. And like, everything was going good, ya know? But Cyborg's hand writing on the recipe card is hard to read and his 2s look a lot like 7s, so instead of cooking the sauce for 20 minutes, I cooked it for 70..." he said blushing, scratching the back of his neck.

Raven had to smirk at that, her subtle grin of approval putting Beast Boy's mind at ease.

"And the suit?" she added, again monotone, though her smile was giving her true feelings away.

"I wanted this night to be special, so I figured I'd dress up all fancy and stuff...but then I remembered 'Dude! I don't own a suit!' and I'm kinda broke at the moment, but I found this at a garage sale for a buck fifty." he said, grinning over his bargain hunting skills.

"I have to say, I'm impressed." she said, smiling softly.

"AWESOME! Ok, so sit down and dig in!" the changeling exclaimed, pulling back her chair for her. Raven gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before adjusting her cloak to allow her to sit down properly. Beast Boy could hardly contain himself as he helped push her chair back in.

"Cheese and Tofu Bacon...can't say I'm surprised." the Azarathian said, helping herself to a slice from the cheese pizza half.

Time passed as both Raven and Beast Boy enjoyed their greasy culinary delight and more importantly, each other. With Dominic purged from her soul, Raven could focus on the more important aspects of her life, one of them just happening to be a certain green-skinned wanna-be comedian. Eventually both Titans were full, with Beast Boy having engulfed most of his pizza and Raven having two slices to fill herself.

"Anything else planned?" she asked, as she carefully dabbed her mouth with her napkin to dry of any excess grease or sauce.

"Actually..." Beast Boy said as he stood up, making his way to his beloved Azarathian goddess. "...may I have this dance?" he offered, his hand extended towards her. Raven blushed slightly, feeling her cheeks get hot. "Gar...I don't dance.." she said quietly. "Oh c'mon Rae!" he protested "Just ONE dance, that's all I ask."

Raven sighed, knowing how he was and his habit of consistently pestering her till he got what he wanted. "Fine." she replied, grasping his hand. "Just one dance. I'm tired Gar, and need rest."

Beast Boy helped her out of her seat and gave her a quick kiss on the chakra, as he was really starting to love that, and produced a small boom box from underneath the table.

"Gar, just exactly what music are we listening to?" Raven asked apprehensively. It went without saying that despite their mutual attraction, they never saw eye to eye in musical tastes. "Just relax, Rae. The song I picked is perfect! You'll totally love it." and without further ado, pressed PLAY. He walked over to his pale skinned beauty, wrapping his hands around her waist. Raven reached and clasped her own hands around his neck, expecting Britney Spears to come blasting out of the speakers at any moment

Instead the music that did come out caught her off guard, as it wasn't Ms. Spears or anything else she would find objectionable, but rather it was from her own CD collection. She looked straight into his eyes, the glimmer of her own serving as her silent way of thanking him.

_Just one look into your eyes_

_One look and I'm crying_

_'Cause you're so beautiful_

_Just one kiss and I'm alive_

_One kiss and I'm ready to die_

_'Cause you're so beautiful._

His arms were wrapped around her waist now, as he slowly swayed with her in perfect unison. Their eyes zeroed in on each other as if they were the only people in the entire world. And at the moment, they might as well have been.

_Just one touch and I'm on fire_

_One touch and I'm crying_

_'Cause you're so beautiful_

_Just one smile and I'm wild_

_One smile and I'm ready to die_

_'Cause you're so beautiful_

Raven leaned forward and rested her head on his chest, feeling his heart beat. She closed her eyes and let the song carry her away.

_Oh you're so beautiful_

_My darling_

Beast Boy gently laid his head down on top of hers, his own eyes closed as well. He could smell that the familiar scent of rain had returned to her hair, the very aroma sending goosebumps all over his body.

_Oh you're so beautiful_

_You're so beautiful_

_Oh my baby_

_You're so beautiful_

The song repeated the chorus a few more times, as the two slowly danced in the blue moonlight. When the song ended, the CD stopped, as Beast Boy had set it to play that song only. The changeling slowly lifted his head up, Raven doing the same, and they made eye contact again.

And then they kissed.

They had kissed before, that much is for sure, but this time was different. No, this kiss just wasn't a simple declaration of love, as they've had plenty of those since they had begun the relationship. Rather, this kiss was a promise between the two. A promise between two lonely hearts who had met each other when they needed love the most. Love had bloomed between a pale sorceress and a jade skinned prankster, two people who couldn't be more different...yet they shared a deep bond that could never be broken.

Who knew that one kiss could symbolize so much?

**THE END**


End file.
